Starlight, Starlight
by Steven Quinlan
Summary: Accidents happen, even on the Andromeda
1. Accidents Happen

Title: Starlight, Starlight  
Author: Steven Quinlan  
Disclaimer: I own them all....Psych! However the plot is mine  
Archives: Let me know where, but otherwise feel free to archive  
Feedback: Praise me, flame me, chop me into chicken liver, but say   
something at Steven@interlanes.com  
  
---------  
  
God help me, I'm blind.  
  
It's not quite like anything else you know, being blind. Everyone thinks that they get it if they just close their eyes, then wander around giggling and trying not to trip on things.   
  
Being blind isn't like that. When you close your eyes, part of your brain knows that you can always open them again and then everythig will be all right. Actually going blind is like losing something so important, so normal, so vital, that your mind can't comprehend it. That's when the panic starts in.  
  
Oh and the guy screaming in the ducts above deck 7 of the High Guard Ship Of The Line Andromeda Ascendant? That would be me, Seamus Harper.  
  
--------------------------------------------  
  
Starlight, Starlight  
  
--------------------------------------------  
  
It all started with the Drago-Katsov, it always does start with them, because they seem to spend an incredibly large amount of their time trying to kill us. If they spent half the time they did hunting us, building stuff, or working or having lots of cute little Nietzchean kiddies or something, they'd own half the galaxy by now.  
  
Either way, we had just left the Dronsen Drift when we were ambushed by a pack of Dragan fighters who had used the gravity shadow of a nearby asteroid to hide in untill we were on top of them.   
  
Note to Harper, from Harper, fix the damn sensors so they can actually scan for other things than mass.  
  
So while Dylan is trying to get us out of here, and Tyr is being all Nietzchean and wanting to just kill them, I'm running from the Slipstream core to deck seven, which houses several of the point defense laser com-circuits, because they were damaged in the first blast.   
  
Normally if i'm working on a panel, then Rommie turns off the main power to it so that i don't completely fry myself when i'm fixing it, and true to form Rom-doll did this time, the one thing she couldn't have known was that the charge generator for the point defense lasers was leaking power into the com-circuits.  
  
Let me explain, because you probably aren't all super-geniusses. When either the operator, or more usually Andromeda herself, gives an order to fire the point defense lasers, an order goes from the command deck to the comm-circuits and from there into both the charger and the fire control circuits. While the fire control circuits figure out where to fire, the charger begins the half a second warmup sequence for the lasers themselves.   
  
Of course if it's damaged, then the energy in the charger has no where to go but back, into the delicate circuitry I was peering at.   
  
Funny thing blindness is, first there's this big bright light, then darkness, complete, without a hint of light or color or definition, that's when the pain sets in.   
  
I don't know how long I was out, but the next thing I remember was waking up on a bed, which means either medical or my quarters, and given the amount of voices around me, it's got to be medical. I'd need to clean up for that many people to stand in them at the same time.  
  
I groan, it's a good way of getting attention, when my brain finally tells me that my eyes are closed, so I open them and see nothing.  
  
That's when the panic sets in, even as my brain figures out what happened, I hear everyone but Trance go quiet and all I hear is the word blind. She probably said a bunch of other stuff, but that's all I hear, that and the words 'probably permanent'.  
  
I should be worried, I mean, who'll fix the andromeda if I can't see. I can still jack in but what about if someone needs to crawl a hundred and twenty feet into ducting to replace something.   
  
I don't think about that though, even as I let someone inject me with something that makes me all mellow and stops me from shouting, the only thought on my mind is that I'll never see Trance, Beka, Dylan or anyone else again. I'll never see the two suns of Infinity Atol set again after spending the day surfing, and I'll never see the soft, seductive glow of starlight again  
  
God help me, i'm blind. 


	2. Finding Your Way In Darkness

Title: Starlight, Starlight  
Author: Steven Quinlan  
Disclaimer: I own them all....Psych! However the plot is mine  
Archives: Let me know where, but otherwise feel free to archive  
  
------  
  
Most humans believe that when you dance with the Devil he changes you.  
Most Nietzcheans believe that if they dance with the Devil, they change the Devil.  
-Chaddee Wharlocksa,   
third seer of Alturn 9  
CY 9982  
  
------  
  
  
"Harper" The word reverberates in my brain like any sound that is locked in a place that just isn't big enough. Hi, I'm Seamus Zelazny Harper, former chief engineer of the Andromeda Ascendant, or, Rommie, as we like to call her. I say former, because, well being blind means I can't do half my job.  
  
Seeing as she is interrupting my session in the computer I guess I should reply to her, even if i know what she's going to say.  
  
"Harper, my records show you've been jacked in for over 8 hours"  
  
"That's right Rom-doll, i'm jacked in, and cruisin' the electron wave" I flash her one of my patented Seamus smiles, it wilts of my face as she glares at me.   
  
"Hey come on, it's not as if i can do anything usefull in the real world."  
  
She gives me a sad smile. Did i mention that the Adnromeda Avatar is hot, and that I can only see her because I'm jacked directly into her mainframe. The things i'm "seeing" are actually just electrical impulses coming straight in through my port, in here, I can see.  
  
Two months ago a panel exploded in my face, according to Trance it left hundreds of slivers of metal embedded all over my face. While most of it has healed okay, there's no way it could fix my eyes.  
  
"Harper, you know that isn't true. Just because you lost your eyesight doesn't mean you aren't a usefull part of the crew. It just means we have to adjust for your new condition"  
  
That sets me right of, one thing I have never dealt well with was pity. "Yeah, unfortunately the only condition I ever wanted was the kind you get from lots of Salsa music and cute danspartners. Care to help?"  
  
I know, i'm being petty, and mean, but I can't help it. Of all the people on the ship, Rommie may actually be the only one who knows what it's like to go blind. The amount of times her sensors have been disabled just isn't funny, and each time I guess it's like going blind.  
  
"Look, i'm sorry, but while i'm in here, at least I can do some good by keeping you in perfect working order. Can't have a shoddy AI now can we, how's that going to look for Dylan's new commonwealth?"  
  
"Nice try Harper, but with the ten hours a day you've been spending in here, my AI program is so smooth, it could be sheet of glass."  
  
I laugh at that. Rommie, my favorite AI, always trying to be the caring attentive mother hen.... Did i just say that out loud? By the look she's giving me i'd say yes.  
  
"Time to go get some sleep, i've alerted Trance to help you get to the mess deck, and then bed." She gives me another smirk and suddenly I know how she's going to get me to leave the AI matrix, and before I can even begin to protest, I feel a sharp electric shock run through my dataport, and I reflexively yank the jack out of it. I massage the back of my neck, grumbling about pushy AI's when I hear the doors to my quarters open and hear Trance walk in.  
  
That's the other thing about being blind, without all the sight to clutter things up, you learn to listen very carefully to what's around you. I could tell it was Trance you see. It was a soft footstep, so it couldn't be Dylan, Tyr or Rev Bem, and because it was light it couldn't be Rommie's avatar either. She's a robot, the added weight makes more noise. Beka's stride is very forceful, much like she is, and these were soft footsteps, so the only person it could be was my very own purple pixie.   
  
We exchange some basic pleasantries while she helps me to my feet and walks beside me towards the mess hall. It only takes us a few minutes to get there. You'd figure that with me being a super genius and all, I'd be able to memorize my way around the ship pretty quickly wouldn't you. Too bad it doesn't work that way. I don't walk evenly so I can't measure distance properly, and believe you me, we tried.  
  
Still feeling a little upset at the fact that Rommie booted me out of the AI matrix, I decide to be a little proactive, so after Trance has put me down at one of the tables, and gone to get food for both of us I start planning. I'll show them i'm not helpless yet.  
  
It's stupid okay, I know that, I'm blind, I should accept my limitations, but you know what? I don't want to. So when Trance puts down my food and drink, I don't wait for her to pass it to me, I reach out and try and grab for the glass, where I think it is on the table, from the sound of where she put it down.  
  
I feel my hand brush against it, and can almost imagine the glass as it falls over, splashing me and part of the bench I'm sitting on with water, then rolling down the table and shattering on the floor below. I listen and hear silence. Tyr is no longr talking to Dylan, Rev isn't muttering wayist prayers any more, and even the boss has stopped eating.  
  
I fight back tears as wave after wave of helplessness wash over me, and I think I have it under control untill trance intones, ever so patiently,  
"Harper, you should have waited, I could have passed it to you."  
  
I thought Rommie was bad, this is ten times worse, a hundred times, heck, maybe more. I'm Seamus Harper dammit, not some two year old who needs to be fed. With a quick motion I stand up and snap that thought to Trance before turning round and stalking out. I hope I don't trip before I find a wall i can follow to the door.  
  
I must have left them with their jaws open, eith that or I'm finally getting the hang of blind navigation, as I'm out the door before anyone tries to stop me. I make it probably over thirty feet before I miss an incline in the deck and go crashing to the floor. I consider getting up again, but I figure, what's the point. I'll just fall down again.   
  
I shake my head bitterly, story of my life, I get up, and get knocked down, I get up and get knocked down, over and over and over. Now i've gone and made a fool out of myself to the others as well, just great.  
  
Again I hear soft footsteps approach me.   
  
"Harper, are you okay?"  
  
"What kind of stupid question is that Trance, I'm blind, or didn't you notice" I practically shout at her. I regret it the moment I say it, well, shout it, because Trance doesn't deserve that. I don't say anything though, i'm still too upset."  
  
"Please Harper, i'm only trying to help." Oh God, I can tell that tone of voice without my eyes. Great job Harper, you made her cry. Are you happy with yourself now? What an accomplishment.  
  
I reach out to the sound of her sniffling, and motion for her to come over to me. Thankfully she does and she puts a single hand in mine. Did you know she has a very smooth skin, a lot smoother than a humans, again, something I never noticed before.  
  
Now that I have a hold of her I pull her down beside me and put my arms around her in a hug.   
"Hey, it's okay. I know you're only trying to help, but this whole invalid thing, it makes me feel so useless. I can't really explain it, but this is so unfair. Unfair to me, unfair to you guys."  
  
"I know what you mean Harper, I feel useless too. You're my friend, and I can't do anything to really help you. I mean I can walk you about and bring you tuff" She puts a single hand on my chest, "But I can't help you in here, where it hurts most."  
  
I smile at that, There really is only one Trance Gemini. "Hey, let's have no more of that from my sparkly purple babe. You're here, and you care, that's all the help I need."  
  
I can almost feel her smile, but then that's Trance for you. she pulls out of the hug and helps me to my feet, before turning me round and dragging me back to the mes hall for a late dinner.  
  
--  
  
Waking up is the worst. You go from one darkness to another, and even after two months it's still disorienting and fightning, but I figure i'm beginning to get used to it.... yeah right. I reach out my right hand to the can of Sparky Cola that I keep next to my bedside, only to find it isn't there. it takes me a moment to realise that's because I'm not in my bed, I'm on the couch. I feel around me, and sure enough, a tail, attached to a body, attached to Trance.   
  
Last night, after the lunchroom debacle, she walked me back to my quarters and insisted on pending some more time with me. We started playing a game, she'd put on some music and i'd try and guess the title. I got forty-eight out of her fifty-one choices. We must have fallen asleep at some point or another.  
  
I smile as I look forward to the day, surprising I know, but today we're actually doing something I like. Well no, not really, I hate shopping, but since Beka is taking me past doctors who may be able to either clone me a new pair of eyes, or fix me up with Bionics, I am more than up for it.  
  
We actually tried half a dozen places already, but apparently cloning is so rare these days that we haven't found anyone who can do it, and Bionic eye replacements for humans will cost a fortune. The good old Harper is human Gene strikes again. Apparently, in my weak immune system is a particular sequence which is ultra sensetive to foreign equipment. I can handle the dataport because it plugs straight into my neural system without needing to use anyof the bodies relays. Bionic eyes however, have to be able to interface with my bodies own connections. Bionic eyes for me are going to be hard to find.  
  
It takes me a while to get ready, can't help but want to look my best, even if I can't look back at anyone, before Beka calls that she is ready to go. I tell her to come over and we head down to the surface in the Maru. I find it strange, I can navigate the Maru without trouble, and by myself, I think it's because the Maru is smaller, less room to get turned around while going through it. I sit with Beka in the Command room, I can't call it a deck, and once again hate the fact that I can't see the stars.  
  
When i was a kid, growing up the way I did on Earth, the one thing I always enjoyed doing was looking at the stars. They gave me hope that somewhere out there, a better life could be found. I did find it, with Beka, and I still have that better life, to be honest, but I miss the stars.  
  
That sort of makes the mood somber, and the day doesn't get any better. We visit four places here, in Kendran Drift, and the only Doc we find, that Beka trust to do the operation won't do it for less than 50,000 thrones. We simply don't have that sort of money. What little money we make with the Andromeda goes to buying parts she can't replicate and we're mostly broke or nearly so.  
  
I'm standing there quietly cursing the guy when someone knocks into me hard. I shout at the person to back off, right before a solid hand slams into my cheek. Let's be honest, I'm not a big heavy guy like Dylan or Tyr, I'm weedy and i don't eat as much as I should, the result? When a fist like that hits me I go flying.   
  
Hitting the ground hurts, I realise groggily. Sitting up is totally out of the question, but I think I can lift myself on my arms. I hear Beka shouting my name, and the familiar sounds of people getting hurt as flesh hits flesh. There's nothing I can do, as someone kicks me in the head dropping me to the ground.  
  
Once again I feel so utterly useless, my boss, my friend is in trouble, she's calling me, and I can't do a thing to help her. I'm almost glad for the next kick that knocks me out. At least now i don't ahve to be awake and deal with my guilt. 


	3. The Quiet Times

Title: Starlight, Starlight  
Chapter 3: The Quiet Times  
Author: Steven Quinlan  
Disclaimer: I own them all....Psych! However the plot is mine  
Archives: Let me know where, but otherwise feel free to archive  
  
-----  
From Beka Valentine's Point-of-view  
-----  
  
-----  
Some say violence is the last refuge of the incompetent, I believe it is the first refuge of the righteous  
Alose Sendrakin  
Captain of the Nietzschean Starship Empire's End  
8819 CY  
-----  
  
"Maru, this is Dylan, please say again?" What? Does Dylan think I have all day to discuss things with him. I grimace as I pull out a force lance from the Maru's armory, I also take a pair of concussion grenades and a single flashbang with an armstrap holster.   
  
Bless Tyr for always wanting a usefull weapon within arms reach. He spent two weeks going over the Maru's armory and upgrading it with various weapons. I'm not sure I want to know where he got them, I don't care, right now i'm just glad they are there.   
I stalk back over to the control panel and flip on the communications.  
  
"I'll make this quick, I have a friend to rescue. We were outside Dorvaths medical clinic when three Nietzscheans jumped me and Harper, while two of them were giving me this bloody lip and black eye you can see, the third beat Harper down and carried him of. Now i'm going to find him!"   
  
Damn straight I am, Harper isn't just my Engineer, he's my friend, but moreover he's my responsibility, and I won't let anyone hurt him anymore. If that bothers Dylan then he can just take his complaints and shove them where even Rommie won't find them   
As I wait for a reprimand I continue to strap weapons to my belt. My coat should cover most of them. The screen flickers as Tyr joins the debate. He looks at me with those intense eyes...stay focusssed Valentine.   
  
"Wait for us, I can be on the surface in twenty minutes"   
  
I smile at that. Tyr may not like Harper overly much, but by now he probably considers him part of our little dysfunctional family, and Tyr is very protective of his family.   
  
Heck, I don't like Harper all the time, he's annoying, way to hyper and has a two track mind. One dirty track and a spare in case it gets broken, but he is family to me. He's the annoying kid brother you'd love to smack, but who you would hate for something to happen to.   
  
"Fine, then start looking as soon as you land, I'll have a twenty minute headstart on you."   
  
"You do realise that taking that sort of weaponry into the Kendran drift will cause trouble if you are caught"   
  
"Yes!" Tell me something I don't know. I'm carrying enough armorments to start a small war, especially now that I've put on one of Tyr's shoulde sheaths. The man does build very conmplete weapons belts.   
  
Tyr gives me a wolfish grin, "Good, then I will join you in twenty minutes." As he signs off I shake my head. He may be a Nietzschean, but he sure is an odd one.   
  
As I walk out of the Maru, I realise what I hate most about Harper being missing. As much as I am annoyed when Harper let's his mouth run, I've become used to hearing him talk. Ever since he lost his eyes, he's talked less, and had far more venom in his voice than he should.   
  
I hate these quiet times, when Harper is gone or sick, when I can't shake my head in exasperation as he goes on about his latest gadget, or how much sparky cola he drinks, or how Trance is a purple babe, or whatever.   
  
He's my friend, and I want him back. Nietzscheans, when I find you, you are going to wish your daddy's hadn't been such perfect specimens. Watch out Kendran drift, Beka Valentine is coming in. 


	4. I Hate Waking Up With A Headache

Title: Starlight, Starlight  
Chapter 4: I Hate Waking Up With A Headache  
Author: Steven Quinlan  
Disclaimer: I own them all....Psych! However the plot is mine  
Archives: Let me know where, but otherwise feel free to archive  
  
-----  
While most bipedal beings perceive only 28% of the world visually, many think that sight is the primary sense.   
- Bipedal Medical Journals Volume XXVI  
9214 CY  
-----  
  
Note from Harpers body to Harper's brain. Don't let yourself get into the position where you are being kicked in the head by angry Nietzscheans.  
  
Note from Harper's brain to Harper's body. Shut up! I'm in pain over here.  
  
Oh this is just wonderfull, kidnapped, being dragged through a hallway of some kind, a killer headache and I think i'm missing a shoe. I knew I shouldn't have thought about whether this day could get any worse.  
  
I could really use Sparky! Well, they've stopped dragging me across the floor and have just propped me up in a chair. Wish I knew who 'they' were or why they wanted me.  
  
  
This is where the fun and games called torture begins, i'm guessing. Hah, show's what they know. I'm Seamus Harper, I was raised on Earth, there ain't nothing they can do to me, that hasn't been done before..... Of course if they just don't do anything to me, i'll be quite happy.   
  
I sit there in silence, waiting for something or someone to break it. They kidnapped me, they can make with the introductions. By my internal clock, I figure it's almost a minute before a word is said.  
  
"Seamus Harper of the Andromeda, I presume?"  
  
"Hey, right in one, you win a prize for that you know? How about you let me go and I'll go get it for you?"  
  
A deep throaty chuckle rings out from a space about three feet infront of me. Okay, now that's just freaky. A Nietzschean that laughes at my jokes? Usually I need Beka or Dylan to stop Tyr from beating me like a red headed stepchild for joking around and this guy thinks it's funny?  
  
Hi, I'm Seamus Harper, and I'm confused. Guess it shows on my face because next I know there is someone trying to hand me something. I feel what it is and am surprised to recognize a datajack cable.   
  
"Mr. Harper, my name is Alexander of the Falcon Pride. If you want, you can plug this into your port, It will give you access to the camera's in this room. It isn't much, I'll admit, but it may help put you at ease."  
  
Even as I bring the jack to my port I can't help but fire of another comment. "You know what would really put me at ease? If you let me go and don't hurt me."  
  
"I'm not going to hurt you Mr. Harper. In fact I would very much like your help."  
  
Okay, now that's even weirder. He kidnaps me, and now he wants my help? Well, seeing as all my other plans have just been cancelled due to reasons of extreme bodily harm, I might as well listen.  
  
I plug the jack into my port and focus on the new sensations. The first thing I notice is that the system is indeed locked into this room and this room only. It's completely featureless besides the camera images.   
  
I focus on the camera image and enlarge it so I can get a good looksie. Well, there's me, sitting in a featureless metal chair, across from me, sitting at a small table between us is the Nietzschean.... a fat.... balding?....Nietzschean.  
  
"Uhm, dont' kill me or anything, but are you sure you're a Nietzschean?"  
  
"Yes mr. Harper, but like you I met with an unfortunate accident. You see twelve years ago i was on Bergos, trying to put down a little insurrection when one of the rebels got lucky with a grenade. It exploded right next to me and cost me something valuable."  
  
"Oh yeah, and what was that?". He decides that showing is better than telling as he moves his hands to his head, and I'll be a purple pixie if he doesn't reach up and remove both his eyeballs. He puts them down on the table and turns his head to my body  
  
"Do you see now Mr. Harper, why I understand what you are going through? I went through the same thing."  
  
That makes me swallow. Okay, so he is serious, I'm down with that, but I'm also not convinced. I grab a hold of the camera stream and start checking it. It's not a recording, it's not noticeably tampered with.... hello, it's being fed to a different location. He's going to kill me for this, but I decided to stamp on the second data stream with extreme prejudice.  
  
"Okay," I tell him, concentrating on the matter at hand. "So what do you want from me?"  
  
"When I lost my eyes, my pride wanted me to commit suicide. They felt that a Nietzschean so incompetent as to allow his vision to be damaged, wasn't fit to survive. I decided otherwise and went into business for myself. Now, I have my sight back, I have wealth, power and three wives. I believe I have proved my superiority."   
  
Yeah, I can figure that. Tyr once said, when the Andromeda's sensors were down, that if Rommie had been his kid, blind and without weapons, he would have drowned her.   
  
"Okay, so what does that have to do with me?" Is what I want to know, I mean, okay, you're sorry about me being kicked when I was picked up, but that still doesn't explain what you want with the resident genius.  
  
Okay, now that just sent a shiver down my spine. I have a lot of the Andromeda's access and control codes. I need them to do my job properly, and how does a Nietzschean prove his worth? well, I imagine trying to conquer the Andromeda would be a good way. God i hope that isn't it.  
  
"News of all kinds reaches my ears, and when i heard that despite your accident, you continued to work I was impressed. So I looked ito your background and I wish to make you an offer. I will arrange for one of our medics to implant a set of brand new bionic eyes into you."  
  
Wha..... did he.... no way..... He's a Niet... eyes, Bionics... for me. Okay, Harper, take a chill, will you. He's going to want something big for that. Something you aren't going to be willing to give  
  
Damn, I have to bite back a round of tears at this damn bastard who is dangling this infornt of me. One way or another I'm going to make him pay for this, even as he keeps talking.  
  
"They come with all the low light and infrared upgrades. If you have access to a medical bay, then I can arrange the install in less than a day."  
  
How can I say no. He's offering me exactly what I've wanted ever since I had the accident. But how can I trust him. He's a Nietzschean, he's going to want something that I can't give him. Control codes to the Andromeda, or the secrets of the AI core, or something so important it's worth that sort of money.  
  
And God help me, right now I'm considering it, regardless of what Trance says, I am useless at the moment. The AI program can keep itself tidy without me is she has to, all i really do is do it faster.   
  
Can I do it. Is there anything I know that I could offer for a pair of eyes. Is my loyalty really worth that much? I mean, Beka's been my friend for half a decade, but Dylan? I've only known him for a year or so.   
  
How do I choose, between my friends, my allies, and possibly the love of my life, and the chance to see again.......dammit it's not fair....  
  
I guess I'll have to find out what he wants, and hope beyond hope that the decent Harper is still alive and kicking inside me.   
  
"Nice offer, but you're still a Nietzschean, what's the catch?"  
  
"The catch, Mr. Harper, is that I want your genetic code."  
  
"What?" O-kay!. That wasn't what I was expecting. My genetic code, why on earth would he want my genetic code. For that matter, why hasn't he already taken it if that was all he wanted, I mean he could have had one of his thugs slice me up for a medical scan.  
  
"While my genes have strength, as my three sons proved when they found you. They lack a modicum of intelligence. They were supposed to find you and invite you to come here at your leisure, not beat you down and drag you here. My apologies for that, by the way."  
  
Well, that explains tons... and about that Thug thing... I didn't mean it. Well I did, sons or no, they were thugs, but I'll never tell.   
  
"From you I want a genetic sample that I can add to my next child. You are a genius, or so I'm told, and I would like to add that to the genemix."  
  
That makes sense, sortof, I mean, if he really just wants to do a little gene splicing, why not?   
  
God, I feel like someone lifted a ten ton weight of my shoulders. He doesn't want anything vital, just a little DNA sample. That I can do!  
  
let's see, cons? In ten years or so there could be half a dozen very smart little Nietzscheans running around. Pro's? I get my eyesight back.   
  
Pro's definitely outweigh the cons for me, but I'll have to explain it to the others. They might not agree with my priorities. Do I really care? Yes, I do. So i'll explain it to them first  
  
"Can think about this for a while?" Now push comes to shove, if he wants an answer now, I'm in trouble. I'm spared from that thought by the fact that something beeps. I concentrate on the image feed again and see Alexander reaching for a communit on his belt.  
  
He pops his eyes back in, oy, that's creepy, and gives the camera an apologetic smile. "One moment please...."   
  
There's a pause as he listens, I can't quite make out what's going on, but there's something about grenades and psychotic women. That's gotta be Beka, coming in with the cavelry. I grin broadly for a second.  
  
"I see.... Would you please inform Miss Valentine that her companion is free to leave at any time, and that she is welcome to enter and pick him up if she wants. "  
  
"Beka's here?" I say, feigning surprise. I was right, gotta love being a genius.  
  
"Yes, and another fine example of a human, she has successfully penetrated all the way into the inner courtyard, disabled half a dozen of my guards and is holding one of my daughters hostage."  
  
Go Beka, sounds like she has quite the mad on, this probably isn't going to look good though.  
  
"Hows about this, I'll go back to my ship, and I'll give you a call at the end of the day and let you know." I have got to get out of here and clear my head before i make this choice.  
  
Please go for it, come on, I'm trustworthy remember, come on, say yes.  
  
"It is an acceptable agreement. Ah, Captain Valentine. As you can see, your friend is fine."   
  
I see Beka arrive in the room and discconect from the jack, just in time for a hand to grab my shoulder. Did I mention that she's still got a force lance to the throat of a Nietszhcean girl? hehe, thought I forgot something.  
  
"Harper, are you okay? Grab my arm, we're leaving." There's something in her voice that scares me, it's sort of a mix between adrenaline, anger and worry. Oh, I've got to get her to calm down a little before she hurts someone  
  
"Hey Beka, it's okay. He already apologized for what happened, and I'm fine.". Don't know if she agrees with my comment, but she does drag me up and out of the building. Score one for the good guys I guess. And as sick as it is, I can't help but keep a silly grin on my face.  
  
--  
  
The room is silent. it's featureless grey walls completely uncaring of the solitary figure sitting behind the table. A man enters, a Nietzschean and Alexander's second in command.  
  
"Do you think he bought it, sir?"  
  
"I do indeed, and if returning his sight to him is the price to pay to take the Andromeda, then it is a very small price indeed." 


	5. ...When You Do Nothing At All

Title: Starlight, Starlight  
Chapter 4: ...When You Do Nothing At All  
Author: Steven Quinlan  
Disclaimer: I own them all....Psych! However the plot is mine  
Archives: Let me know where, but otherwise feel free to archive  
  
----  
There is no confirmed Precognitive ability in any species currently on record. There have been rumors of such a species, but no proof has ever been found.  
- Ceratan Tenakai  
Vedran Grand Admiral  
CY 6989  
----  
Trance Gemini's point of view  
----  
  
"I think we should let him help Harper."   
  
Well that certainly got there attention. Ever since Harper got back from Kendran drift there had been a raging fight going on between him, Beka, Dylan and Tyr. Rev was being wise again and backed out of the whole debate, saying that Harper should follow the way of the Divine, and me? Well, I wasn't going to say anything at first.  
  
Strings are funny things you know. They help hold the galaxy together, Slipstream connects worlds, thoughts connect minds and strings connect time.   
  
You know what else is funny? Games are! Everyone plays them. Tyr takes his very seriously and he's always playing with Dylan, pushing him to see how far he can go. Harper's always playing them as well, hiding regret and fear behind sarcasm. I play games too, but I'm not playing for myself.  
  
You see a long time ago, my, well species, I suppose, found out that we can see the strings of time, look up and down them to see what's going to happen, and what's already happened. The universe decided that it was a dangerous gift and that there should only be a couple of us at a time.  
  
It's a shame, but I make do, mostly by helping others. As a race we're drawn to people who have destinies, either good or bad, but we tend to find them, and we tend to guide them.   
  
Someone once said that at any time we were exactly what we needed to be at that time. Dylan didn't need a headstrong, forceul person guiding him, he needed someone more... innocent, more vulnerable, that he could look after, and who's advice he could take by making it seem that he was being kind to me.  
  
It's a subtle game we play, there has been a few times I've thought he's going to figure it out, but either he hasn't or he is chosing to ignore it. The others have no idea though, so I am going have to explain, simply, why I think Harper should take Alexander's offer.  
  
I can't tell them that I have looked up and down the strings, and found that the most likely way to create the new Commonwealth includes Harper getting new eyes. It includes a lot of things that I can't tell them about.   
  
More fights with the Magog, the Kalderans. A viscious final war with the old ones. I shudder at that thought, I'll have to tell them eventually about the old ones, but not now. I see a raven haired warrior who will help win that fight, she looks familiar, not with raven hair but with white. I'll have to consider that later.  
  
The deaths of friends, some ten years down the line against the old ones are hard to watch, but I see them nonetheless.  
  
The string includes Dylan, Admiral of the new High Guard fleet naming a new class of ship the 'Andromeda Ascendant' class, in recognition of her valor and sacrifice agains the old one. However, while the ship died, the avatar lived.  
  
It almost made me giggle, when I saw the first of those ships, commanded by none other than Rommie, and ironically named 'Glory of Andromeda' that would be known in slang throughout the entire fleet as the 'Glory of Rommie' within a year of it's commision  
  
And I saw something that bothers me, the fact that I can't see myself clearly in the string. Sometime very soon, my string, and Harpers are going to get fuzzy together and stay that way for a good long while.   
  
I wonder what it means.  
  
I pull myself back to the present to people asking me why I think we should let harper take Alexander up on his offer.   
  
"Well, Harper wants to see again, and we don't have any reason not to trust them."  
  
Tyr is giving me that look again. The one that says "you are a stupid girl who knows nothing about Nietzscheans."  
  
"no reason? They are Nietzscheans, that's reason enough!" am I psychic or what? Tyr is nice, sort of, but he can be very predictable in some ways.  
  
Of course I have to keep trying to convince them, Harper means a lot to me, he's my best friend and I want him to be happy, I lo-...........I can't go down that route. He needs me as a friend right now.  
  
"Well, he did say he would need medical facilities didn't he? Why not let him use the ones on the Andromeda, that way Rommie could keep an eye on him and make sure nothing happens."  
  
The others explode into a debate about security and Nietzscheans, I ignore them and slip Harper a shy smile, he returns it even though he can't possibly have seen me smile, and that makes me really smile. Harper has a nice smile, and he doesn't smile enough, mostly he just smirks.  
  
I lean back against my console and tune the others out. I was once told that by interfering, my people were damaging the lines of fate. What that person didn't understand is that sometimes it's the hardest thing in the world, to do nothing at all. 


	6. The Eyes Have It

Title: Starlight, Starlight  
Chapter 6: The Eyes Have It  
Author: Steven Quinlan  
Disclaimer: I own them all....Psych! However the plot is mine  
Archives: Let me know where, but otherwise feel free to archive  
-----  
Q: What do you call a Nietzschean Doctor if you want to survive surgery?  
A: Anything he damnwell wants  
-How to annoy a Nietzschean  
Jokes, volume XXVII  
CY 9821  
-----  
Tyr Anasazi's Point Of View  
-----  
  
Damn him! Damn him to the lowest depths of Hell. Dylan Hunt has made some very stupid decisions since I've been on board, but this one has to rank among the stupidest. I am convinced that were you to look it up in the dictionary you would find a description of this idea next to the definition of stupid.  
  
With a roar I slam my fist into the punch bag, the physical excersize I've been doing for the last hour isn't helping to calm me down. I cannot believe he is going to allow a group of Nietzscheans free access to the Andromeda and her medical bay.  
  
It doesn't matter that this might be the fastest way to get the little professor's eyes back, that could be done somewhere else. This is a risk of ships security.  
  
"Ship, where is Dylan." I wait, seething for the ship's voice to tell me where to find our beloved captain. By all rights I should be taking my property and leaving, but then, I've felt that way before.  
  
I have to try and convince him one more time that this idea is dangerous. I'm not overly familair with Falcon Pride, beyond their abandoment of the Kodiak, but the idea of a short, fat, balding Nietzschean is almost impossible. If his genes were that bad then he would have been killed as a child to avoid continuing a tainted bloodline.  
  
"Dylan is in Hangar bay 4, welcoming Alexander, his bodyguard and his doctor on board." Damnable avatar. I have always disliked the fact that she felt willing to project her image into any room. I didn't want to see her, only hear her.  
  
I have never understood A.I.'s. They are machines, given a form, and a so called life and claimed to be sentient. They are machines, programmed to appear alive and helpfull, but they are still machines. Just like this hologram of the ship isn't alive, neither is the computer that runs it.  
  
They should never have granted AI's sentience, it was bad enough that your ships computer might not agree with your opinions, but to have a computer capable of disobeying? It boggles my mind, even more so considering that almost all of the high end AI's model themselves on kludges, a chaotic, disobedient species if ever there was one.   
  
I'm barely aware of walking through the curved decks of the ship as I stride towards the hangar bay. Dylan has already rejected my arguments, so I will have to either bring them more forcefully, or I'll have to develop new ones.  
  
I'm also on edge, I realise this when a hand touches my shoulder, and I snap round, drive my elbow into the persons solar plexus, grab the arm that was on my shoulder, and whip them around and into the opposite wall.  
  
I come to a full stop when I realise that the person i've just thrown into a wall and is now sliding down it, is Beka. Cursing softly under my breath I walk over to the other side of the hallway and help lift her to her feet.   
  
Even though she is hissing slightly while feeling the back of her head she seems fine. I'm about to ask her if she's okay when she grabs me by the lapels of my shirt and slams me back against the bulkhead.  
  
"Jezus Tyr, what is wrong with you. First you don't listen to me when I call you and then you attack me when I finally catch up with you."   
  
I relax slightly in her grip. It's an adrenaline rush from being thrown into the wall, and I can live with that. I have to admit, it takes fire to try and mandhandle a person two heads taller than yourself.  
  
It's one of the many things I have admired about Beka Valentine. When we first me, I assumed she was like any other kludge, a waste of genes, but she has proven, time and again, that she is resourcefull, capable and not in any way intimidated by anyone. I like that.  
  
"Well?" she demands, as she keeps me pressed up against the wall. I bring my arms up between hers, breaking the hold she has, and reverse it so she is the one with her back to the wall.  
  
I lean in real close before softly starting to speak. "You really should know better than to come at a Nietzschean from behind."  
  
Her anger is still in place, but a familiar sardonic smile graces her face. "Believe me, coming at you from behind wasn't in my game plan."   
  
I almost let a frown cross my face, is she....flirting? with me. It's hard to tell with her at times. I push that thought away, as fascinating as it might be to explore Beka Valentine, I won't be able to do so if Dylan gets us all killed.  
  
"I was going to see if I can talk Captain Hunt out of this idiotic idea to give eight Nietzscheans the run of the ship." I push of from the wall and start to turn when she grabs my arm, I swing my elbow towards her again, trying to make a point, I suppose. She neatly blocks it, then kicks my legs out from under me.  
  
It takes me nearly three seconds to realise what happened, and by the time I do, she has sat down comfortably on my chest. Looking at her, arms folder across her chest, again with that blasted smile on her face I can't help but smile slightly. this is definitely one to respect.  
  
"Oh no you don't, Tyr Anasazi. You made your objections, Dylan made a decision, and while he's the captain we are going to have to respect that. A starship crew isn't a democracy you know."   
  
She stays sitting on me for a few more seconds, probably to make sure that I've got the message. I don't need to tell her that I could through her of easily, she knows that, it isn't the point.  
  
"I know, still this situation is worrying." I will do as she asks, and leave it be for the moment. But I still feel the need to make the point that there is something wrong here. It is something I cannot put my finger on, and yet I'm sure that Alexander is lying. I think I'll go and talk to him later.  
  
She finally get's of me, and then, to my surprise, offers me an arm. I clasp it and she helps pull me to my feet.  
"Yes, but besides keeping a real good eye on things, what can you do?"   
  
"I suppose." It galls me to admit it, but I was probably more angry than I was reasonable. If nothing else, this interlude has calmed me down somewhat. Staying angry is not a mistake I intend to make again while Alexander and his men are on board.  
  
She turns away from me and walks down the hall, as she comes to an intersection she turns, and gives me a slight smile.  
  
"See you at dinner Tyr, maybe you'll see me coming then."  
  
I laugh out loud as she vanishes though the corridor. There is truly no one quite like Beka Valentine.  
  
-  
  
I wait another hour, and reread parts of 'Fountainhead', a book I have always enjoyed reading before making my way to the quarters assigned to Alexander and his people. As I enter at least two seperate people point a weapon at me and I once again curse Dylan's softness. He should have taken those weapons from them at the first oppertunity.  
  
"You must be Tyr Anasazi." A voice rings out from a chair to the side of the room. I glance over there and see exactly what Harper describer. I find it almost unbelieveable.  
  
"I just got through talking to your captain. Interesting man, I'll admit. He agreed to take us to Korendar 9 while my doctor helps your Mr. Harper."  
  
"Dylan Hunt is also foolish, naive and far to trusting. I would speak with you", I tell him, then glance at his seven bodyguards. "Alone!"  
  
Alexander waves to his guards and they instantly get up and leave. Good, at least they are well trained. Once they are all out of the room I press the lock.  
  
"Ship! Privacy mode." It acknowledges me that privacy is now engaged and I turn to Alexander.  
  
"There is something about you that is telling my instincts to shoot you know, and save us the trouble later." I tell him while walking slowly towards him. I can see it in his eyes, that he realises that i'm stalking him.  
  
That is the one thing that has bothered me no end. His bionic eyes, I have read something about a Nietzschean with Bionics, but I don't recall where. It's probably no big matter, but I would like to know anyway.  
  
"Straight and to the point aren't you. Very well, why haven't you shot me then?"  
  
I smile at that. The answer is as obvious as it is ironic. "Because Dylan has a belief that you are on our side, or at least not our enemy." I personally don't believe it for a moment, but for now I will respect Dylan's wishes."  
  
"You don't share your captain's belief?"  
  
"I am neither as naive, nor as innocent as captain Hunt. If you prove him wrong, I will kill you myself." I see a barely perceptible twitch as I make my threat.   
  
People have always made grandiose comments of how something isn't a threat, it's a promise. I am not that melodramatic. It is a threat, pure and simple.  
  
He sneers at me, something I find both very brave and very foolish. "I'm surprised at you Anasazi, I would have thought you woud have appreciated what I went through to remain with my Pride. Even though the loss of yours wasn't your fault, I have no doubts about what you would have done to save them."  
  
Wrong subject. Wrong subject by far, as I grab him and lift him bodily of his chair before slamming him into the wall as hard as I can without breaking his back. I snarl in satisfaction as I hear him give a strangled cry of pain and lose all his breath. With my hands around his throat, he won't be drawing in any new breath soon either.  
  
"Never talk about the Kodiak in my presence again." I practically yell into his face. "Falcon Pride was one of the clans we begged for help while our men, women and children were being butchered and you did nothing."  
  
In disgust I let him go and he crumples to the ground choking and trying to draw in breath. I turn to leave when he starts speaking through the wheezes.  
  
"Remember Tyr, that was a long time ago."  
  
I turn, very, very slowly.  
"I remember, even if no one else is left to remember, I shall remember that betrayal." I turn off the privacy mode and unlock the door. without turning I tell him to remember my warning, with that I walk out. There is some research I need to do, and then I need to do some planning. 


	7. Of Eyes And Idiots

Title: Starlight, Starlight  
Chapter 7: Of Eyes And Idiots.  
Author: Steven Quinlan  
Disclaimer: I own them all....Psych! However   
the plot is mine  
Disclaimer 2: Most of the dialogue for the Harper/Trance scene came from Satansrobot's 4th challenge description  
Archives: Let me know where, but otherwise feel free to archive  
  
----  
  
Beware the truth/ It burns like fire in eyes  
Beware of honest faces/ they usually tell lies  
- Unknown Human Poet  
CY 6532  
  
----  
Seamus Harper's Point Of View  
----  
  
"Harper, are you sure about this?"  
  
I heave a slight sigh, for all her incredible babeness, Trance can be awfully squeamish at times. I mean, it's our ship right, so there's nothing wrong with a little midnight excursion to the medical deck.   
  
I mean, we're just going to have a litle poke around, maybe hook one of the new eyes up to the computer and have a look at it before they install it in my head, and I don't know, perhaps catch a movie. Just a normal night of fun right?  
  
Yeah, okay, I'm not kidding anyone. I'm a raving paranoid at the moment, and the only thing worse than the agony of having to wait untill tomorrow to have the eyes installed , is the fact that I'm scared to death Tyr is right, and this is going to be too good to be true.  
  
That and the doctor freaks me out, I mean it's not because he's a Nietzschean.... well, not only because he's a Nietzschean..... oh to heck with it. The man is a Nietzschean and I don't want a Nietzschean to be poking at me with sharp things when I'm not awake.  
  
No, strike that, I don't want him poking me with sharp object when I'm awake or asleep. I know I shouldn't worry, Alexander and his buddies have been almost perfect houseguests. They have kept mostly to themselves, but they are quite happy to sit and talk, or play a game of hoops with Dylan.   
  
What's more everyone is going to be there. Rommie and Trance will be watching and Tyr has made it quite clear that nothing medically is going to be done to anyone without him there to 'observe', which I think is just Tyr-speak, aka, a really nice way of saying 'I'm there to kill you if you step out of line'. So really I shouldn't be worryings, though that's never stopped me before.  
  
"Yes Trance, I'm sure. Now help me get behind the console would you." I keep my tone light. Trance is doing me a favor, and I really don't want to upset her. There is nothing worse than watching my sparkly purple babe be upset, even if I can't see.   
  
I feel her slim velvety hands grab my arm, and while she is guiding me towards the seats, I revel in the feeling of her holding me for a moment. She then sits me down infront of a console and I start getting ready.  
  
The doc left the eyes here overnight, and trance is going to grab one of them and put it on the scanner, I'm then going to jack in and check it out, we'll put it back and no one will be the wiser. I mean, no one is going to come to the Med deck at four in the morning without a reason, and Rommie has us in privacy mode, so no one should know.  
  
I listen as Trance picks up something and puts it in front of me.   
  
"Here it is Harper, now I'm going to stand by the door untill you're done." I nod absentmindedly as I plug in the Jack, then I feel for the scanner switch and trip it. Lastly I reach out to where I think Trance put down the eye.  
  
Can I just interrupt here to say that, sure, in twenty-twenty hindsight, Ii should have had trance hand it to me? Good, I just wanted to get that off my chest.  
  
Anyway, I reach out to it, and even as I grab for it, I can hear it start to roll. With a very quick note of quickly suppressed panic, I try and lunge for it, which is a big mistake, and only succeed in knocking it right off the table  
  
As it falls to the ground and hits it with a sound that, in the quiet medbay, sounds like a gunshot, there's only one phrase that goes through my mind.  
  
"Uh oh."  
  
"Uh oh?" You know, it just isn't fair how much disbelief she can put in her voice.  
  
There's a perfect moment of silence between us while I think about the fact that I cannot find this thing without her.  
  
"What have you done now?"  
  
"I dropped it." I decide to pre-emptively wince, as I know she's going to get a look on her face, any second now.   
  
"You dropped it?!" Yup, there is that look. I can't see it, but I can just imagine it. Pretty eyes wide, eyebrows somewhere above her hairline, jaw slightly open. Oh yeah, that's the 'I can't believe Harper did that' look.   
  
"You are such an id-" okay, she's right, but this I don't need.   
  
"Shut up and help me find it before-"   
  
"Too late ..." she interrupts me, as the outer door to the medbay is opened. Trance pulls me down and real close.  
  
"It's Dylan and the doctor, I can hear them talking. I'll try and put back the eye, just stay down behind the equipment."   
  
Before I can tell her no, she's gone again, and I take her advice and slide under one of the workstations. Dylan may be an okay guy, but I don't think he'd approve.  
  
Now I can start to hear voices, my ears aren't as good as Trance's obviously, but they are decent enough. They are talking about the Doc wanting to show Dylan the eyes and that tomorrow is going to be a big day and how he wants to start early. They were apparently running together and decided to take a quick brake. Part of me wonders what Dylan is doing up at this time, but I ignore that for a moment.  
  
I feel trance scoot under the workstation with me, and try to not enjoy the feeling of her tightly pressed against my back. She whispers, ever so quietly that she was able to put the eye back before the lights come on.  
  
That's of course when I feel a sneeze coming on. Rev is always telling us that the Divine has a twisted sense of humor, right now I believe him. With a use of will equal to that of any greek god I manage to stop it being a sneeze and make it more of a snort, but the two voices go instantly quiet.  
  
"Rommie?" I hear Dylan ask. "Is there anyone else in here, or in the ducts?"  
  
"No Dylan, there are no registered personell guests or maintenance bots in Medical or in the ducts surrounding it.  
  
"Must be hearing things." I almost sigh in relief before i remember that if I do, he probably will come and look.  
  
They talk for another couple of minutes at least, at a certain point I feel Trance lean her head against my shoulder. She's probably as bored as I am, well, she would be if I was bored. Right now, with Trance lying up against me like this, her head on my shoulder, my mind is going about a thousand light years a minute.  
  
It seems to be a long time before their voices trail of and they go back to their run. with a sigh, Trance untangles herself from me and helps me up  
  
"That was too close harper. We should leave now."  
  
"Yeah, I suppose so. I'll check them out once they are installed."  
  
---  
  
Hurry up and wait, hurry up and wait. If this was the military I'd be washing out right about now. The last day and a half since Trance and I had our little escapade have been harrowing.   
  
First there was the four hours of surgery, followed by a twenty-four hour rest period to give my eyes and eyesockets a chance to start healing. They itch like some nasty disease, but the doc says that will stop in another day or so. It's apparently a side effect of the current in the eyes themselves.  
  
Ten minutes ago, the doc did a signal rinse test. basically he triggered the eyes to start up, for just long enough to test the signal strength and clarity and got all goods.  
  
Thirty seconds ago he sat me down and gave me some instructions on the sensors and how to react to the sudden imput of vision again, reminding me that it won't be a gradual fuzzyness like waking up, but a sudden snap as the vision comes back on.  
  
I am practically twitching as he cuts the last of the gauze. At my request he's doing it in the Obs deck, and I know that everyone is gathered in here. Dylan had us come out of Slipstream in an empty system so that he could garantuee there wouldn't be trouble.  
  
Come on, come one. The doc mutters something about how the flesh around the eyes seems a little sore, but is otherwise fine. He then tells me that he'll trigger the activation sequence.  
  
Funny thing about bionic eyes is that to turn them on the first time round means that he has to open the iris and press a touchpad to trigger them. After that they should run of the bodies powersupply, but I should take them out at night, just to be safe.  
  
  
He presses the buttons and I wince as there is a slight shock behind my eyes. but all I can see is static. Then he closes the irises and in one moment vision snaps back into my brain.  
  
I almost stumble but the doc catches me. I don't even notice as i can't help but stare out of the window of the obs deck.   
  
I can see stars again  
  
There are no words to properly explain how i'm feeling. After months of darkness, of the sheer terror of not knowing what was right in front of me, I can see again.   
  
I feel light headed, but I don't know if that is fromt he sudden brain overload of the sight, or the fact that I CAN SEE AGAIN!  
  
"Well, do they work?" Tyr demands from somewhere behind me. I turn round, give him the supremo Harper grin  
  
"Tyr, right now, you're the most beautifull Nietzschean I have ever seen." The whole rooms bursts out laughing as Tyr's expression goes apopleptic.   
  
Someone suggests a party to celebrate as the others come up to give me hugs and pats on the back. I look at Trance, and break out into a huge grin as I see a smile on her face.  
  
As they begin to lead me out of the Obs deck and down to the mess hall for a party, I take one look behind me and enjoy the wonder of soft starlight once again. 


	8. Of Plotting And Planning

Title: Starlight, Starlight  
Chapter 8: Of Plotting And Planning  
Author: Steven Quinlan  
Disclaimer: I own them all....Psych! However   
the plot is mine  
Archives: Let me know where, but otherwise feel free to archive  
----  
Everything is connected. Nothing happens without a reason. The sooner sentients learn this, the sooner they, like us, will begin to see the patterns, and the sooner they will be able to avoid danger and strife.  
  
-Karin Nakir  
Ki-Hodryan scientist, 11 months before the extinction of the Ki-Hodryan species.  
  
CY 4212  
----  
Seamus Harper's Point Of View  
----  
  
Oh, how I love my life. Hi, I'm Seamus Harper, and I can see again. Right now, I'm busy nursing a sparky cola hangover and am wedged under Andromeda's panels tinkering.   
  
I can't remember the last time I was this happy. I am just enjoying the ability to work again, to fix, to lovingly shape metal and circuitboards, to make for a more efficient and better ship.  
  
I love being able to see. Okay, there's the main control sensors realigned.  
  
"Rom-dol, how does that feel?" I ask her as I slide out from under the panel. Ever since I got my eyes back, and woke up after the party, I've been working like mad to get the Andromeda back up to my specs, and, I think that with about three days more of solid work, I can get everything back into shape  
  
Rommie's hologram appears infront of me, "Quite good actually, I've got a slight axial tilt of 2 degrees, but it's well within High Guard operational tolerance levels."  
  
Yeah right, like what did the High Guard know about being a ship engineer. Rommie told me once that they didn't officially have chief engineers on High Guard ships of the line to stop the AI's getting over dependant on a single person.   
  
They would have three designated duty chiefs, one for each shift that were rotated on a two monthly basis. This of course lead to a whole bunch of people who really didn't know what they were doing and without the authority to back it up.   
  
Which may be fine for High Guard, but out here, I run the show. And in the Seamus Harper show, two degrees is to big a variable. I slide back under the panel and start making alterations. God, it's good to be back.  
  
--  
A little later.  
--  
  
"So Doc, am I in good health?" I ask as I put the eyes back into my head, and that takes some getting used to, believe you me. He turns on me with a bemused look on his face  
  
"Mr. Harper, you have a weakened immune system on the verge of collapse. Your teeth are slowly being disintigrated by the Sparky Cola that i'm told you drink. Your ears are operating at less than ninety-one percent efficiency and your hand to eye coordination is so bad, that if this were a real military vessel you would never have made it through army training."   
  
He stops his rant to take a breath. I guess even Nietzscheans need to breathe once in a while, "However, if you mean, how is your body reacting to the implants, it is doing very well."  
  
"Thanks Doc." I tell him as I jump off the bunk. As I start to make my way to the door, Rommie's hologram appears.  
  
"Doctor Bischoff, as part of my normal operations I constantly monitor for unusual radiation, EM frequency transmissions and conventional transmissions. I have detected 4 seperate bursts of low grade transmissions from Harper's eyes in the last day. Can you explain?"  
  
The Doc looks at the hologram and he seems to be momentarily unsure, nah, I'm dreaming, he's a Nietzschean.  
  
"Well Miss Ascendant," Gotta love the fact that this guy is always polite. You know it's allways Mister this, Miss that, and he won't use shortened names, or nicknames.   
  
It took Beka four days to convince him to call her by her first name, and now he does, he calls her Rebekka, her full first name, not just Beka. I thought she was going to have a fit when he did that. Rev didn't even bother trying.  
  
"Cybernetic eyes like the ones I installed in Mister Harper aren't of a particularly high grade. Now, human eye sockets don't have enough lining in them to properly encase a cybernetic eye, so what I did was install a small transmitter in the back of the eye, in the blind spot of the optic nerve, and one in the eye itself."   
  
He turns on one of the data flexi's and shows us exactly what he means with a set of diagrams. It's kinda cool in a really gross way.  
  
"The eye transmits it's images to the receiver at any time that the conection pads aren't connecting to the eye itself, and any extreme eye movement can do that. It's likely you'll notice this in the future as well."  
  
Hey, it works for me, Rommie spends a few minutes talking to the Doc, but I don't particularly want to hear them debate the validity of low end band transmissions as opposed to data connection pads. I have a meeting on the Obs deck to get to.  
  
--  
  
Dylan is waiting for me on the Obs deck, and as usual he's way early, but then that's our Captain.   
  
"Hey boss, some party last night wasn't it." He nodds at me with a smile, that is laced with the grim lines of a hangover that is probably as bad as mine is.  
  
"It was indeed. I've got a question for you, why is the slipstream drive non functional?" Straight to business, gotta love the man.   
  
I look at him sheepishly, how do I explain this. "Well you see boss, now that I've got my eyes back, I want to make sure Tyr hadn't done to bad a job at keeping Rommie in working order."   
  
He smiles at that and tells me he won't let Tyr know I said that, for which I am very gratefull. I am so not into the kind of pain I'd get for telling Tyr that he did a less than perfect job.  
  
"So I figured I'd do a major diagnostic on all of the ships systems. I did weapons and sensor arrays while we were getting here, and started the engines one as soon as we came out of slip and confirmed the area was clean. It should be done in about six hours."  
  
I wait for about ten seconds, shifting from foot to foot as he stares at me, and seems to be considering something.   
  
"It's not a problem Harper," He reassures me. "It's just that the ship that was going to pick up our guests isn't here yet, and they asked if we could drop them of at one of their bases instead. I said yes, but I'll let them know we're going to be delayed."   
  
He nods at me and starts to walk out, "Oh and Harper?" I nod at him to continue, "Don't work yourself to death. We've got time to do any repairs you want to, they don't all have to be done today."  
  
With that he walks out, and I grin to myself, Dylan just doesn't get it. I don't work as hard on the ship as I do, because I have to. I do it because I enjoy it. I'm an engineer, it's what I do.   
  
--  
  
"Oooooooh, if only I could tesseract, could tesseract, could tesseract.  
If only I could tesseract, I'd tesseract alot." I swing into my fifteenth rendition of the song as I punch in my security override into the main control panels in machine shop 5. These panels give me keyboard control of all the vital systems and require a 42 digit password. Not too difficult to remember, but fun to come up with, hey I am a genius you know.  
  
I'm about to start my 16th rendition of 'If Only I could tesseract' when Rommie appears infront of me with a pained expression on her face.  
  
"Hey Rom-doll, what's shaking?"  
  
"What are you singing, and how do I get you to stop?" The hologram asks me.   
  
"It's just a little song I put together to help me pass the time. I think it's rather catching myself. "I flash her a huge grin, I don't care how upset she is, right now nothing can bring me down.  
  
I've got my eyes back, the Nietzschean Doc has his DNA sample, and right now everything is right with the world.  
  
"Well, if I can't get you to stop, then can I at least get you to jack in? I think I may be developing a glitch in the front targetting array software."  
  
"Sure Rommie." I plug myself into the main board and feel my body go limp as my brain starts processing the information coming from Rommie.   
  
It's a funny thing that, if it wasn't for the data port, I couldn't do what I do. The VR helmets are worthless for serious programming and they lack the reaction speeds of the dataports. Heck, even a broken down old dataport like mine is better than any non direct way of working on a computer.  
  
I look around and reach out to grab the targeting arrays. If you want to get technical, my mind issues an order to the dataport, it converts the order into the user level computer language that Rommie's been programmed with, and her own AI matrix converts that command into the actual AI programming code.  
  
"Okay, now let's have a look at this array."  
  
It takes me about 2 minutes to find the problem with the array. When I was fixing the axial tilt on her sensor array iIforgot to adjust the targetting array for the extra difference. It takes me only a few seconds to fix, and I see the discrepancy drop to below one percent. That's acceptable even for me.   
  
I'm about to ask Rommie if she needs anything else, but she beats me to it.   
  
"Harper, didn't the doctor say that your eyes would stop functioning if you jacked in?" She looks puzzled, as if she can't figure out a piece of problematic data.   
  
"Yeah, because they are both feeding information directly into my brain, it would be a problem to seperate the two, so when I turn the dataport on, the eyes go off." Stops me from seeing the deck infront of me overlayed on the AI net that i'm looking at.   
  
  
She looks at me curiously. "Then why are they still transmitting?"  
  
That's strange. I check Rommie's sensor logs and she's right, there is the same low end transmission that the eyes usually give of.   
  
I tell Rommie to hang on as I drag my mind back to my body, take out one of them, that still makes me shudder, and plug it into a scanning console. Luckily I don't need them to both be on at the same time.   
  
I start the scan and then plug back in, going over the scan results from the inside. There doesn't appear to be anything odd, untill I notice a slight fuzzyness around the edges of the transmission circuits.   
  
That's a new one on me, I dig deeper and find myself up agains some Intrusion Countermeasures. This is where the dataport really comes in handy. I dodge the attack from the program and build a defensive program and trigger one of Rommie's offensive ones, because all coding in an AI matrix is essentially long strings of ones and zeroes, form is everything.   
  
The IC has appeared as a fire spitting snake of some kind, and my defensive programming appears as a big shield, the attack program Rommie loads up and attacks the IC with manifests itself as dozens of little combat drones shooting at the snake.   
  
Whatever Rommie was using as an offensive program did the trick as the IC program freezes in motion before blowing up  
  
As the AI program disintigrates I take a good long look at the fuzzyness behind the circuits and find something that makes my blood run cold. A second data stream, just like the one in the camera in Alexander's office.   
  
"Rommie? When was the last burst transmission?" I ask urgently. I hope to the divine that I'm wrong about this.   
  
"Exactly 4 minutes and twelve seconds ago."  
  
"Show me the camera feed for the ten seconds leading up to that." A feed appears infront of me, and in the ten seconds before the signal I am typing in my override codes for the ship's main computer control.  
  
Tyr was right, Alexander and his buddies are up to no good. I know what they are trying to do now, and heaven help me, if I don't get to the bridge right now, we're all going to be killed. 


	9. The Prices We Pay

Title: Starlight, Starlight  
Chapter 9: The Prices We Pay  
Author: Steven Quinlan  
Disclaimer: I own them all....Psych! However the plot is mine  
Disclaimer 2: It get's a little graphic there at the end, but don't worry, it's just a few paragraphs  
Archives: Let me know where, but otherwise feel free to archive  
---  
What sacrifices are you willing to make? What journeys will you take? It is not an easy life, but a rewarding one nonetheless. Come on the greatest adventure there is and see the three galaxies.  
  
-From a High Guard recruitment poster  
CY 7004  
---  
Seamus Harper's Point Of View  
---  
  
"Harper!" I ignore Rommie's hologram as I make my way from the machine shop to the command deck. I have to get to Dylan, I have to warn him.  
  
Okay, so I could use the comms, but what happens if Dylan is entertaining our guests? If I let them know ahead of time that I know what they're up to, then I won't be able to stop them.  
  
That brings me to a screeching halt. I can't just tell Dylan what's going on. Their are eight well armed Nietzscheans on board plus Alexander himself, if I just blurt out what's going on to Dylan then he's going to try and stop them in a Dylan way, and against nine well armed Nietzscheans, the odds of winning without anyone getting hurt aren't good.  
  
"Rommie!" I say turning towards her  
  
"Finally, I was beginning to think I'd have to-"  
  
"Not now Rommie, quickly, where is everyone?"  
  
She gives me a very strange look for a moment, as if she can't figure out why I'm asking, then she cocks her head sideways.  
  
"Dylan and Rev Bem are in command, along with my avatar, Trance and Alexander. Beka is in her quarters, Tyr is in the gym, the other Nietzscheans are in various parts of the ship."  
  
"Okay Rommie, here's what we're going to do..."  
  
---  
  
About three minutes later I saunter into command with my nano welder over my shoulder as if it's a normal day and I'm here to do a repair. Just to complete the illusion I slip under a console and open up its circuitboards while listening to Dylan go on about the Commonwealth.  
  
God, I need a cola, Tyr and Dylan, and maybe Beka are the kind of people that go in for this spy hard undercover stuff, I'm just an engineer. Okay, so I'm a genius, they aren't, but still. I don't like this cloak and dagger stuff.   
  
It's about half an hour or so untill something starts to happen. It starts simple enough, one of Alexander's men arrives on the bridge and whispers something in his ear. He smiles at that then turns to Dylan  
  
"Captain Hunt. I have to thank you for your hospitality."  
  
"That's okay, we were glad to help," Dylan is trying to wave it off. That's typical Dylan, for all his smarts he is really bad at accepting thanks.  
  
"No really, you have given us transport, food and sleeping accomodations." He pauses for a brief moment, then whips round to aim a gun at Dylan while his buddy pulls guns on me and Trance.   
  
He's also covering Rommie, but then I was expecting that. "Oh, and let's not forget, this wonderfull starship of yours."  
  
Oh, I am so going to enjoy kicking his ass, err.. or watching someone bigger and stronger than me do it. I stand up from the panel I was working on and lean back, Dylan is still smiling.  
  
"Rommie, please increase gravity for our guests." Dylan is acting all smarmy and confidant, you'd think that with all the times we've been boarded he'd be a little more cautious. If my guess is right though, then nothing at all is going to happen.  
  
When I see Rommie's avatar drop to the deck a second later i'm sure of it. Took them long enough. It's so obvious in hindsight, install little camera's in the eyes, so that when I type in my override codes into the engineering systems, it gets recorded and transmitted to the Nietzscheans. Voila, now they can erase the main AI module.  
  
"Rommie?" Dylan demands, starting to look worried.  
  
"Oh you'll find your AI quite unreachable, you see my engineer has deleted her personality from the AI matrix."   
  
Damn he looks so smug and self satisfied. Well, i'm going to let him do a bit more exposition. Even as he is talking to Dylan I ignore the guy with the gun and move over to Rommie with Trance, and lift her to her feet.   
  
Trance looks at me with an expression of worry, I quirk my mouth up just ever so slightly. She looks at me for a long moment before nodding and turning back to where Dylan is standing fuming across from Alexander.  
  
"How?"  
  
"Why, through Mister Harper's access codes of course." Yup, the ones I typed in right before the last burst transmission. These Nietszcheans really are smart cookies aren't they, oh yes. I almost shake my head in amusement before realising that I'm still supposed to be scared of him.  
  
I pull myself up to my full hight, which isn't very high, but anyway, and look straight Alexander "So, you really didn't care about my eyes at all, you slimy, stuck up son-of-a-"  
  
He growls at me. Yeah, like that's going to work for long. "I'd be silent if I were you, mister Harper, you have been outwitted."   
  
Ooh, I love a challenge. I keep my anger in place though, I can't afford to play my hand too soon just in case I'm wrong about any of this.   
  
"Yeah, I suppose so. You never wanted my DNA did you?" Send out the bait....  
  
"Actually, it was a nice fringe benefit, but the real prize was the Andromeda." And hook the fish. Thanks for confirming that.   
  
"This is why I hate Nietzscheans. Lying scum!"  
  
He looks almost offended at that, well, cry me a river. "Not true, I did lose my eyesight, and I was a member of Falcon pride, and I soon will be again." He taps on his comlink and turns to it, leaving his grunt to keep weapons trained on us.   
  
"Have you secured the ship?"  
  
"We can't get into the Gym or Captain Valentine's quarters." And this is where Harpers ingenious plan begins to unfold. Neither Tyr nor Beka is going to appreciate being locked in, but I'm hoping they'll understand. If they don't, then I'm hoping I can hide behind Dylan.  
  
"Why not?"  
  
"An override on the door lock." His eyes seem to bulge for a second, then his head snaps up to Dylan and then to me.   
  
"Oh, and one other thing you fat balding slob," I give him my very nastiest smile.  
  
"Rommie, seal the bridge. Vent all biomass on all decks save here, the gym, Beka's quarters and hydroponics into space." There is the sound of metal grating, then a series of large whoomps as the Andromeda explosively vents it's oxygen out into space.  
  
Now a Nietszchean can hold his breath for twelve minutes or so in ideal circumstances. Less than that if they don't have time to take a deep breath, or if they have to work hard, like holding on for dear life against vacuum.  
  
Rommie, now standing by herself, turns to me and smiles. "All Biomass vented, I'm, moving the ship at 10 psl for sixty seconds to garantuee they can't get back on board."   
  
That's my Rommie, I love this AI.   
  
"No, What have you done?" He is practically shouting as he glances about in worry. Didn't think a little kludge could get one over on you, did you?  
  
I lean back against the console, and glance at the ES panel behind me. "I'm guessing you Niets can't breathe to well in space, can you?"  
  
He turns a set of furious eyes to me, and I swallow. Okay, I had meant to needle him a bit, but he is looking rather psychotic at the moment. "How did you know?"  
  
"The eyes were transmitting when I was jacked in, what's the point of that? The only reason it would transmit without me seeing the images is if they were being transmitted to someone else." I push off from the panel I'm leaning against, I might as well make this a show.   
  
"Then I figured, if I tell people, or change my codes, then you'll know that I know. You could go on a killing spree, and I am so not into pain. so I sealed Beka and Tyr into the rooms they were in, and had everything else vented."   
  
Dylan turns to me, "What about Rommie Harper? I thought he said she had been deleted." Oh yeah, that!  
  
"Oh yeah, i'm sure she was, too bad that I put in a seperate block for her personality profiles, and saved them seperately, then gave Rommie the codes. She should be bringing everything back online in a few minutes." I turn to our Nietzschean friend  
  
"And as for you, I'd give up, or I'll have Rommie squash you onto the deck like Kenedrian fruit flies."   
  
"You wouldn't." Don't seem to be very confident do you?  
  
"Oh really, let me tell you something, I was raised on earth pal, I was tortured by Nietzscheans, and I honestly would like to see you die."   
  
And ain't that the truth. There is nothing that would please me more than that, and frankly, I don't care if it does offend Dylan. I'm about to give the order that will have Rommie flatten them when Alexander pulls out a device.  
  
Even before he says anything in know what it is. Not 'know' as in 'I know exactly what it is,' but I am sure I know what it's supposed to do. "Well, if I do, your eyes come with me"!  
  
I yank at my eyes as they begin to heat up and my vision is cut off suddenly.  
  
"No, I won't let you hurt Harper again." That's Rommie, and boy does she sound pissed. I hear the static whine of her anti-intruder defenses coming online, two screams, and a couple of gauss shots.  
  
Frankly, I'm not concentrating on that right now. I'm concentrating on pain. The pain in my heart and soul for the loss of my sight, again. The part of me that screams out in anguish at losing my vision and the stars for a second time in three months.  
  
I also cry out in pain for the physical hurt in my left hand, as the eyes melt from the inside out, they first heat my skin, then blacken it, then I can feel my hand burn. I barely notice the physical pain as the torment in my soul screams out.  
  
I finally drop to my knees and drop the eyes. Melted and burned bits of flesh and metal splattering to the deck, but it doesn't matter. Trance can fix the damage easy enough, or at least the damage to my hands.   
  
But how to fix the damage to me, I don't know. I feel Trance's arms and tail snake around me in a hug, as I find myself whispering softly,  
  
"It's too late Rommie," the tears begin to flow out of my eyes again, and this time, I don't know how to stop them. "Too damn late." 


	10. Companions In The Night

Title: Starlight, Starlight  
Chapter 10: Companions In The Night  
Author: Steven Quinlan  
Disclaimer: I own them all....Psych! However the plot is mine  
Archives: Let me know where, but otherwise feel free to archive  
  
---  
  
To ask a machine to be alive, is to ask too much of it. Yet to deny a machine that is, for all purposes alive, the rights of those who live, is to ask not nearly enough of the living.  
  
- Shining In Golden Light  
Thann Orator  
CY 3840  
---  
Seamus Harper's Point Of View  
---  
  
Peace and quiet. That's all that the Obs deck is good for these days. Ever since we got rid of the Nietzscheans and I lost my eyesight again, I've spent a huge amount of time here, just sitting, thinking, and trying to figure out if there is a divine and if he does have a plan.  
  
I haven't figured it out yet, the only thing I've figured out so far is that if this is part of the divine's plan, then the divine is one sick puppy.  
  
I crush an empty can of sparky in my hand and drop it to the deck. I grin for a second thinking of the reaming I'm going to get from Rommie when she sees it, and quickly grab it again. I knew where I dropped it, so finding it isn't a big deal. It's strange, as I twist the twisted can around in my hands I can feel every contour, and I can almost see the can, but all I see is darkness.   
  
The others are more or less dealing with this. We're still heading for the system that Alexander wanted us to go to, Dylan wants to see if we can smoke out his base. Tyr has left the ship in the Maru, something about taking the body of Alexander to a nearby planet for something or other. Beka's just annoyed that he used her ship.  
  
Trance... I really need to talk to Trance. There are things I need to tell her that shouldn't wait any longer, things that she has a right to know. I hope our friendship can survive them.   
  
And then there's Rommie, who for some reason is avoiding me, and has been for the last two days. Ever since Alexander's little plan came together, and was stopped by yours truly, she hasn't said more than about three words to me, and i haven't seen her avatar at all. Well, of course i haven't seen her avatar, but i haven't talked to her either.   
  
So, being the super genius that I am, and having watched Tyr lots of times, I've set an ambush. I blinded Andromeda's internal sensors to my life signs, in Obs, and then set a dummy signal in Machine Shop 17. Gotta love those override codes. If my guess is correct, she should be doing a routine visual check of the entire ship, since she does one every day, and should be coming into the Obs deck any minute now.   
  
I hear the doors open; I hope I'm right about the timing and that it is my Romm-Doll, "Hey Rommie, got a sec?" I call out to her. I can just imagine the look of pure surprise on her exquisite face.  
  
I'm about to make some sarcastic comment about surprise and androids when I hear her stalk towards me and give me a hard shove in the chest.   
  
"Hey Rommie, what was that for?"  
  
"I told you once Harper, never mess with my internal sensors again."   
  
Wow, she is really upset at this. Okay, I'd expected her to be a little upset, but not this raging fury, kill all things that look like Harper upset that I can hear in her voice.  
  
"Jeez, I only did it because you've been avoiding me, I didn't think it'd be that big a deal." It's the truth, after a fashion.   
  
Her voice is softer now, more understanding. "Harper, how can I be expected to take care of my crew if I can't trust my sensors to tell me where they are?" Okay, that's a fair point I suppose.  
  
You know, given that Rommie has a full set of emotions programs and protocols it's not surprising that she's this upset with me. Harper, at times you are such a dumbass, by spoofing her sensors you've essentially been lying to her and making her worry about her ability to take care of us. After all, if I could do it once, then someone else might be able to do it again.  
  
"God, Rommie, I am sorry. I didn't mean to worry you like that. Would you believe I had a good reason?"   
  
I hear clothing rustle, don't know whether she's just making herself comfortable, crossing her arms or something else. "Try me."  
  
Okay, this is where push comes to shove. That's a really strange expression you know, I mean, if you're pushing, aren't you already shoving? ugh, focus Harper; you can sit thinking about stupid things later.   
  
"You've been avoiding me." She starts to make a protest, but I cut her of by holding up a hand, and softly placing it over her lips. I guess there really is a divine, because it lets me get it almost right, my aim is only slightly off and easily corrected.   
  
"Don't deny it, I haven't spoken to your avatar in two days, and you've barely spoken three words to me since we booted Alexander of the ship."  
  
She turns slightly so that she is facing away from me, I can feel it in the way her face moves away from my fingers. I wait for a minute or so before deciding that this could take a really long time. I move my other hand on to her shoulder, and she turns her head to me, and I'm surprised to feel a single tear running down her cheek.   
  
I try to give her a Harper smile, "You know, being your engineer, I sort of need to know if you aren't going to be talking to me."  
  
With one hand on her shoulder, and one with two fingers still touching her face, I notice her shake her head vigorously.   
  
"It's not that Harper,"  
  
"Then what?"  
  
"I wanted to make things easier."   
  
Okay, that makes a lot of sense that doesn't. Easier? To what? to be blind, to have survived Alexander and his cronies? I could sit here and guess until doomsday, but the only way I'm going to find out is to ask. "I don't get it, Rommie. What would be easier?"  
  
"My Failure. I failed you, I wasn't fast enough. I saw Alexander pull out that device and I couldn't get to him in time to stop him. I cost you your eyes"  
  
Her words turn my blood to ice. How can she possibly blame herself? And suddenly I realise, how can she not. Her primary programming is to obey her commander and take care of her crew.   
  
Because I am part of her crew these days, when she didn't get to Alexander before he hit the switch, she considers it a failure of her primary programming.  
  
"Oh god Rommie, don't blame yourself. I don't. I blame Alexander. Last time I checked, you were the one "   
  
As I tell her this I turn her towards me and give her a hug, for a brief moment she seems to stiffen, probably assuming it's a cheap come-on, before she leans into it and hugs me back. After a few seconds she starts to speak again.   
  
"But I-"  
  
"shush, you did everything you could. Think about it this way. We saved the ship. All in all, I think I'd trade my eyes for your life any day."  
  
She pulls away from the hug, and to my utter surprise leans over and gives me a kiss on the cheek. I feel my hand come up to brush over it, as I smile at her.  
  
"Thank you, Harper, I'll stop avoiding you now."  
  
I grin, pointing at my cheek, "You know I'm going to have to have a field day with this tomorrow?" she laughs, and agrees that tomorrow she'll happily be the but of my jokes, but for today, we can just be comfortable with each other again, as friends.  
  
I sit down and think for a few minutes, I think about scaring people, and about decisions and choices. It's surprising how easy it is to make the decision; I turn my head to the ceiling, almost reflexively.  
  
"Trance," I call out, trusting in Rommie to activate a communications link, "Can you come to the Obs deck?"  
  
The line is silent for a moment, and then a soft tinkling voice appears on it, "Sure Harper, I'll be right there"  
  
Time to tell her the truth. 


End file.
